Saturday 11 July 2009

Alternative Münster

The homebrew has been disappearing rapidly over the past two weeks, what with four BBQs in the space of a week and some thirsty colleagues at tasting evenings, I could have gone into business. On the right is my recent Klosteiner Pale Ale during an impromptu BBQ with the neighbours which I am also guilty of imbibing a little swiftly. So, time to stock up. I fancied something a bit darker and maltier this time, so thought I'd do a modification of my last Altbier recipe, sticking with a proportion of roasted malt for colour, but switching to 2% Carafa (dehusked black malt) to give a slight roasted edge without the burnt bitterness that can come through from scorched husks on regular black malt. At least that's the theory! I also switched to CaraMunich rather than regular Munich Malt, just to see if I can get more of a toffee edge to it. And of course the hops are different, hopefully getting closer to the real deal.

It's been a busy week, so I split the brewday in two, mashing one night and boiling the next. Here's the recipe:

Alternative Münster

BeerTools Pro Color Graphic

Size: 23.75 L
Efficiency: 84.05%
Attenuation: 75.0%

Original Gravity: 1.045 (measured)
Terminal Gravity: 1.011 (estimated)
Color: 35.98 EBC
Alcohol: 4.41% ABV
Bitterness: 37.8 IBU

Ingredients:
3.75 kg Pilsner Malt
0.75 kg Caramunich Type III
90 g Black Malt 1200 (Dehusked/Carafa)
17 g Northern Brewer (11.4%) - boiled 60 min
19 g Northern Brewer (11.4%) - boiled 15 min
1 tsp Irish Moss - boiled 15 min
19 g Hallertauer Perle (9.3%) - boiled 5 min
K-97 German Ale Yeast

This was infusion mashed for an hour at 65C and mashed out at 80C. Unfortunately I don't have the facilities to lager this baby, so it'll just ferment coolish down in the cellar for a couple of weeks.

This morning, I'm off to San Diego for a week to attend a conference. I'm hoping to get some good beer geekery in between evening meetings, and what better place to do so! Expect updates and Tweets during quiet times.

I gotta work Suspect Device into a beer name next!

6 comments:

Mike Ring said...

Watch for one of my surveyors to stop by. I've told him to hound you for some stashed away beer at the conference.

Barry M said...

Haa haa! :D I wish! It's make a good marketing ploy. More effective than booth babes I reckon!

Actually, I was in your home town for a few hours yesterday, mostly spent trying to find the Goose Island Bar in the airport. Everyone said Terminal 3, area H1-2, but nobody in the airport seemed to know where it was. Found it in Terminal 1. Was a bit disappointed with the bar really, but it was good to get one of my tasting subjects to try an IPA fresh :)

They liked it even when it wasn't exactly brewery-fresh

Mike Ring said...

Well, you know how we Americans are with our puritanical ways. I'm certain that if you did someone would definitely frown upon passing out booze.

Women? Not a problem!

Alcohol? Shame on you!

E.S. Delia said...

Love the name, Barry! Such a good song. You've inspired me to come up with some other musical puns for my next batch of homebrew.

Bailey said...

We're definitely going to nick this recipe when we start brewing again in the autumn. And the name is great!

Barry M said...

Thanks guys, glad you understood the link :)

Bailey, wait till we see how it turns out :D